Village of Clayton proposes to hike taxes to rebuild rainy day fund

CLAYTON  The village plans to hike property taxes next year to begin building its fund reserves back up.

Following a budget hearing today, the Board of Trustees will consider adopting a proposed $2 million spending plan, which carries a 9.1 percent tax levy increase, for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

Under the tentative budget, the villages general spending is set to decrease by 3.7 percent to $2,048,723 from $2,128,422 this fiscal year.

However, the tax levy, or the amount to be raised through property taxes, will increase under the proposal  to $1,130,324 from $1,035,585  because the board decided not to touch its rainy day fund in the following fiscal year.

In 2012, the village took out $291,196 from its unappropriated fund balance to help offset the levy.

Because of the levy hike, Claytons tax rate is projected to go up by 37 cents  or 5.9 percent  to $6.56 per $1,000 of assessed value, despite a slight increase in the villages tax base.

The tax base, or the total assessed value of all taxable property in the village, increased by about $4.5 million to an estimated $172,066,832 from $167,572,096.

Claytons total spending  including water and sewer district budgets, which are funded entirely through user fees  will be $3,708,435, down 5.6 percent from $3,929,232.

Salaries for the mayor and village trustees will remain the same at $5,000 and $2,750, respectively.

The village will hold a budget hearing at 5:30 p.m. today at the municipal building on Mary Street to gather public feedback before adopting its 2013-14 spending plan.

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